Grow Spiritually

subscribe

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11–12)

Lord, help me to keep a constant focus on the Gospel–salvation through your Son. Forgive me when I neglect the foundation of our faith.

Lord, help me to hold to the Divine Gospel, which has no human origin, warn me when I am tempted to change it.

Lord, help me to preach the Divine Gospel, making the most of my opportunities to preach in love, be it service or speech.

Lord, help me to be more thankful to you for revealing yourself. Help me to position my heart to hear you speak.

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:3-5)

The beginning of Paul’s letter assumes sin and conflict.

Grace** and peace are needed in every community–Christian or not–because communities are filled with imperfect people who are selfish, vain, and prideful. We need God’s grace, his undeserved favor and we need peace with him and others. Let us then not become surprised at sin and conflict when we see it. More importantly, let’s look to control our sin and keep our mouths from conflict with others.

The Gospel was always on Paul’s mind.

Thoughts about the gospel ought to be as regular as eating or sleeping or talking with others. It’s easy to leave the basics behind, but this is a poor habit. There can be no success when the fundamentals are forgotten. Make no mistake, the center of our faith is that the Father has sent his Son to save us from evil–his salvation is necessary and we are unable to attain it for ourselves.

God’s will prevails. Always.

Our freedom is real. And while this mystery cannot be solved, we know what is expected of us: we ought to glorify God above all. We glorify many things: incredible experiences or outstanding people, achievement or the accumulation of more stuff. Everything in creation is is falsely glorified when it ought to be a sign prompting us to glorify the creator.

Paul’s introduction is simple. In a way, it wasn’t very special because was similar to common letter introductions during this time. It’s easy to skip–a trap I often fall into, I’m afraid to admit. But there are great insights waiting to be discovered when we pause for a moment.

What have I missed? How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you through these few words of introduction?

**Here’s a good explanation of Grace from the Lexham Theological Workbook:

“Grace refers to the condition of being given or shown favor, especially by someone in a position to exercise goodwill by meeting a particular need. Grace can also refer to the manifestation of such a disposition of kindness in the form of material benefaction, including the giving of gifts, the approval of one’s request, the granting of freedom or mercy, and the deliverance or salvation from evil or harm.”

Scripture

4 While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

11 “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Luke 8:4-8; 11-15

Q. As you reflect on this teaching from Jesus, how are you challenged and encouraged?

Q. “A farmer went out to sow his seed.” What are all the ways you could have access to God’s Word? Are there any changes you ought to make so that you would be positioned better to hear God’s Word?

Q. The path represents those people who hear God’s Word, but their heart is too hard to let the truth sink in. On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard is your heart? Why? What situations, people, or thoughts work to harden your heart?

Q. The rocky soil represents those people who hear God’s Word with joy, but their heart is too shallow to let the truth sink in and grow roots. At the first sign of trouble, they give up. On a scale of 1 to 10, how “rocky” is your heart? Why? What situations, people, or thoughts work to make you give up on your faith?

Q. The thorny soil represents those people who hear God’s Word, but their heart is too distracted by worry and riches. Good actions grow, but are choked up by the thrones. On a scale of 1 to 10, how distracted is your heart? Why? What situations, people, or thoughts work to choke out the good things in your life?

Q. Consider the first three soils from a positive point of view. What can you do to soften your heart? How can you better persevere and outlast the difficult times? How can you have a greater focus on Jesus?

Q. Do you know anyone with a heart that is “hard,” “shallow,” or choked by “thorns?” How can you encourage that person?

Why are we now friends with Jesus?

Jesus said: “Very truly I tell you: No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they have been born of water and the spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” John 3:5-6

The kingdom of God is open to everyone, but there is only one opening: being born of the Spirit.

What is true about the beginning of life in the kingdom is also true as we continue in life

What is true about ENTERING life in the Kingdom is also true about ON-GOING life in the Kingdom. We BEGIN through the Spirit, let us also CONTINUE in the Spirit.

The flesh does some things, and they are important. But the Spirit does things the flesh can not, and these are the most important things.

When we are faced with repeated frustration and failure, this can be an indicator from God that we are working too much on our own power. We need to work differently, through the power of the Spirit. This begins with confession and a renewed commitment to trust God. In this humility, we wait for God to make our convictions clear. Then we obey.

God has given us great gifts–the flesh can accomplish much, as long as it’s submitted to the power of the Spirit.

WISDOM: How well did I apply the unchanging principle(s) to the specific situation to consider the consequences? Was I able to accurately predict all observable consequences? Did I miss something I should have caught?

MOTIVATION: Whydid I want what I wanted? It’s possible to want the right things, but for the wrong reasons. This question is subtle, but it’s too important to skip. Two thousand years ago, Jesus criticised the Pharisees for being whitewashed tombs6. The warning is still relevant today: looking good without being good is a real temptation for believers. The motivations of the heart are muddy waters! They are difficult to discern because we often have several reasons, they change constantly and they are often in conflict with one another.

ATTITUDE: What was I feeling before I acted? Emotions are often an invisible game changer when they influence our actions. Feeling joy, peace, confidence leads to the best actions. Shame, sadness, anger rarely lead to good actions.

What’s ideal?

You can’t grade a test without knowing the answers. You can’t judge without a standard. As it relates to our KNOWLEDGE, our perception of truth ought to line up with what God says is true. It’s human nature to think we are right most (or all) of the time. One way we grow spiritually is to give up what we think is true and accept what God says is true.

We want our WISDOM to be accurate. That we take the principles we believe in (which are hopefully God’s principles) and correctly apply them to the current situation. We gain wisdom through prayer, observation, and reflection.

DESIRES are typically very specific because they are tied to the moment of our action. However, following the example of Jesus, we are ought to be serving others. If our act was selfish, we missed the mark. As we look to our MOTIVE, we were either humble or we were not.

Finally, our ATTITUDE ought to be joy, a feeling deeper than happiness because it’s not based on our situations. Joy comes from remembering everything God has done for us and the promise of our eternal future in his presence. This world’s greatest setbacks can’t hold a candle to the indescribable light of living in God’s presence.

What’s next?

The next time you make a mistake, or are surprised by your actions, work through these five questions. It will be slow and feel unnatural. That’s ok. Maybe my questions aren’t a great fit and you need to figure out your own. That’s great, go for it! The goal is to draw closer to God!

Relationships don’t just happen. You know this. They take all kinds of work in several different directions. One foundation for a healthy relationship is communication—speaking and listening.

While the best friendships may not require a strict structure, they do need intentionality and authenticity.

We are intentional when we make the time to talk and listen. Intentionality pushes further: we think through what we want and need to say. We also position our attitude to hear the response and take it to heart.

Of course, none of this is important if we aren’t authentic, telling the truth to ourselves and our friend.

What follows is a simple way to pray with intentionality. There are probably thousands of ways to pray—dig through the old writings and you will find them. I’m not suggesting this is the only pattern—or even the best. Take it for what it’s worth, even if it’s a method that you find lacking: fix it and make one for yourself!

ACKNOWLEDGEThank God for his gifts and blessings
Thank God for who he is (good, loving, powerful, etc.)

Ezra had money problems: he had too much. He also needed to travel a great distance–four months from Babylon to Jerusalem–which exposed him to theft. He trusted God for protection, but he also took diligent steps to minimize his risks. Ezra divided the treasures among 12 priests and said:

“Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” (Ezra 8:29)

Essentially, Ezra said, “Hold on to this stuff, because we’re going to count it all when we get to Jerusalem.” God graciously protected the travelers from thieves, and the 12 people were faithful in their stewardship. Once they got to Jerusalem, Ezra writes:

“Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.” (Ezra 8:34)

The newly rebuilt temple was dedicated to the Lord, paid for by the money Ezra bought. Good times. This part of the story was great (spoiler alert: the next part, not so much).

In our lives, we have accountability for everything but the most important things. We are accountable to our parents (for their rules), teachers (for their assignments), and bosses (for our work). When we drive, we’re accountable to the law and those hidden cops who are keeping the highways safe. Society has built in accountability…for the little things.

But we’re not accountable for the big things. I’m talking about the conditions of our heart: our motives, fantasies, and desires. This kind of accountability has to be chosen, and it’s easy to ignore and fake.

Accountability makes us stronger. Eventually we’ll be held accountable to God. But for the current chapter of our lives, we get to choose it.

Respond to God’s invitation. Invitations aren’t meant ignored or just opened—they are offered so that they will be accepted. God is calling us to move forward, come closer to him, the well is open and we must go to it.

Recognize our need. Drinking water is so much easier when we feel the thirst! Unfortunately, the soul’s thirst is much easier to ignore than our stomach’s thirst. When we know that our soul needs more, we are quick to respond to God’s invitation.

Trust God’s promise of fulfillment. Trust and hope move us forward. We cannot grow closer to God if we don’t trust his promises. And this trust is ongoing, just like it is in our human relationships. It would be so great if we only needed to trust God once and never doubt again!

These three things—responding, recognizing, trusting—are connected, they aren’t really separate actions. Each one works to strengthen the others.

These few words tell us a lot about God. The invitation is evidence of God’s love—no one is forcing him to draw us closer to his sustaining presence. God knows we are broken, that we are thirsty, and he still loves us. God is trustworthy, the Creator who sustains the universe will also give us the waters we need.

Check out the rest of Isaiah 55 to find out how much his waters will costs us.

“For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.” (Isaiah 54:7)

God is everywhere, but he is in some places more than most. This doesn’t really make much sense and that’s because our finite minds cannot fully understand or explain the Infinite God. Somehow, “more” of God’s presence was in the tabernacle and this scripture speaks to “less” of God’s presence.

So while God is everywhere–there are no gaps in his understanding or attention or power–God does “pull back” and abandon people.

We don’t know how this works, but we do know why God abandons people (in this case, Israel). It’s actually quite simple and unsurprising: God abandons people who are disobedient, those who reject him and his ways.

Another question pops up: How much rejecting does a person need to do before he experiences abandonment from God? I think this is a bad question…or at least the wrong question. This is like asking, “How far can I flirt before I’ve cheated on my spouse?” Scripture doesn’t give us a solid line that fits every person and every situation.

Instead, let us then concern ourselves with absolute obedience and devotion. This will drive us closer to God which is better than wondering how far we can wander from him.

When we fall short, failing enough to be abandoned by God, there is hope. We can trust that we have been abandoned by a God who has deep compassion. He will bring us back. Israel returned home from captivity. Nineveh’s repentance averted destruction. Peter was reinstated. Paul was confronted and called to apostleship.

Let us take hope when we are abandoned by the God of deep compassion, for he will bring us back after a brief moment.

Isaiah talked about empty boasting:
“We have heard of Moab’s pride —how great is her arrogance!—of her conceit, her pride and her insolence; but her boasts are empty.” (Isaiah 16:6)

Jeremiah talked about the right kind of boasting:
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me…’” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Empty bragging springs from a heart independent from God. Self-sufficient achievements are expressions of prides, arrogance, and conceit. Boasting in the Lord glorifies him.

“My kid scored the winning run. He had very little success all season and this really boosted his spirits.”

“My car is awesome. It’s really old and it’ll probably break down a lot, but I’m thankful I have one. Now my parents don’t have to drive me around any more.”

“My income is incredible. I never thought I’d make this much, it’s more than I need and feel that God is calling me to support your ministry.”

“My wit is quick. My neighbor was really angry, I had no idea what to say. In that moment, God gave me the right words to say.”

What does it mean to be spiritually healthy? Let’s get a little more specific: Were you spiritually healthy yesterday?

Answering this question is easy. Sure, it’s a little personal, but coming up with an honest answer is something most of us could do without much effort.

The next question goes a little deeper: Why did you give that answer? How do you gage your spiritual health?

Answering this question is tough. You could skip it by thinking, “My spiritual health is based on how I feel.” It takes courage and hard work to come up with a wise answer that’s based on scripture.

The first 10 verses of John 15 uses the word “REMAIN” 11 times–that’s a lot! And it’s not like John lost his Jerusalem Thesaurus, he was intentional with his language. It’s clear that remaining in Jesus is important. But what does it actually mean to remain in him? According to Jesus, there are clear evidences of maintaining a healthy connection with him. We can move beyond guessing about our spiritual health, we can know with confidence.In this passage, we find at least four evidences:

Bearing Fruit — “Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (v. 4).
A healthy vine bears fruit, that is it’s purpose. In this passage, Jesus doesn’t specifically describe what fruit looks like. The Bible has a lot to say about bearing fruit, Galatians 5:22-23 is a popular passage. Sticking with this text, we can know we are remaining in Jesus when we do what he created us to do.

Jesus’ Words In Us — “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you” (v.7).
We are spiritually healthy when God’s Word is on our minds. This could be reading (or listening to) the Bible, memorizing a scripture, or meditating on a verse. If we go a whole day or a week without thinking about Jesus’ words, we are missing the mark.

Answered Prayers — “Ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (v.7).
Remember, context is always important when understanding scripture. This promise assumes that we are remaining in Jesus, bearing fruit and keeping Jesus’ words in us. Answered prayer is also evidence of remaining in Jesus. When was the last time you asked for something from God and received it? This is one way you can know you are remaining in him.

Obedience — “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love” (v.10)
Obedience is the foundation for remaining in Jesus, everything in the spiritual life begins and ends with obedience. This is not a matter of earning God’s favor, as Jesus say earlier in this passage, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (v. 3). We can know if we are remaining in Jesus if we do what he tells us to do.

Consider your yesterday: Did you bear fruit? Did you keep Jesus’ words close? Were any of your prayers answered? Ultimately, did you obey Jesus?

Jesus gave up his rights, he willingly chose to loose when he could have won. He did this because it was the Father’s will and because his kingdom was from another place–not of this world. Under the unfair judgment of Pilate, Jesus said,

“My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36 (NIV)

Jesus had servants who could have fought for him and won. What could it look like for us to follow his example of self-sacrifice?

It doesn’t mean that we seek to be treated unfairly. Jesus taught and healed and did all the things his Father called him to do, but he didn’t look for trouble. Following his example doesn’t mean we choose to be weak. While facing unfair judgement, Jesus was teaching and testing convictions. He answered Pilate:

“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?” John 18:34 (NIV)

I love how the Voice translates this verse:

“Are you asking Me because you believe this is true, or have others said this about Me?” John 18:34 (Voice)

It’s not easy to loose when we know we can win. Pride and fear make it difficult. But we can follow Jesus’ example with confidence by remembering that we are citizens of a different kingdom.

As we look into this scripture, we see the principle of self-sacrifice, we have the security to move forward without fear. There is one thing left: what might this look like in our own lives?

After fasting from food for forty days, Satan tempted Jesus and challenged him to make bread. Jesus quoted Moses and his response was earthshaking:

“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

WHY WE READ THE BIBLE

Life isn’t easy. We were either busy, stressed, or both. We make mistakes, and some of them are serious. We need a steady stream of transformation, inspiration, and insight. Every day we need help, and it’s only found in God’s presence and his power.

When we make the time to read the Bible, we do so because we want to deepen our relationship with him.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen.

This is a big problem for those of us who have made God our top priority. How can we get into position so that we might live on God’s Word?

SEVEN EASY HABITS

Preparation is key. To read the Bible well, you need to set yourself up to win. What follows is seven easy Bible reading habits–they are easy because anyone can do them. This is a good thing, because I believe they are also essential.

#1. Begin with PRAYER.
Take the following prayer and change it to make it your own:

“God, help me to hear your voice. Forgive me for my sins, my pride and imperfections. Clean my heart so I can hear you speak. Thank you for loving me, and that your love is unconditional and inescapable. Thank you for speaking to me, for loving me first so that I could respond in love back to you. Keep me focused on you and your word, keep me free from distraction. Help me to understand your will for my life, so that I can live according to your purpose for me.”

#2. Pick the right TIME.
Timing is everything. If you are a morning person, make that your primary time to read God’s Word. If you are night person, read at that time. Pick a time when you’ll be at your best and you won’t be rushed.

#3. Choose the right PLACE.
Choose a place where you have the best chance of being distraction free. If you need total quiet to concentrate, don’t try to read your Bible at a coffee shop or a restaurant.

#4. Disconnect from your DIGITAL world.
This should be a “given,” but in our world, it isn’t. Turn off the Wi-Fi, smart phone, tablet, and watch if it’s “smart” too. Everyone you know can live without 24/7 access to your life… the real question is can you live without it? Believe it or not, when you disconnect digitally, the world will still rotate around the sun.

#5. Follow a realistic PLAN.
There are several ways to read the Bible. Some people turn to a random page, start reading, and then find a verse that is personally powerful. What I love about this message is the spiritual submission and readiness to hear God speak. The tough thing about this approach is that it’s not a great way to read for understanding. Pick one book, start at the beginning and read it all the way through. You may read it fast (several chapters or the whole thing) or you may read it slow (just a few verses.) If you are reading a book in the Bible for the first time, my suggestion is that you read as much as possible, preferably the entire book, in one sitting. This will give you the big picture, and then you can go back and read it at a slower pace with an understanding of how everything fits together.

Another challenge for many people is the “read through the Bible in a year” plan. This is a great thing to do! But for many people three chapters a day is too much, and after skipping a few days, the guilt piles up. Follow a plan that is realistic for you.

#6. Delay your DISTRACTIONS.
You will get distracted. It’s unavoidable. Don’t try to deny the distractions, delay them by writing them down. If you are distracted by something you need to do, (for example, “I need to text Bobby”), take 10 seconds to write that down. That’s much better than taking 60 seconds to text Bobby–especially because he might text you back, another distraction! If you are distracted by something you need to think about (for example, thinking about an awkward conversation from a few days ago), indulge the distraction for a few moments, and then ask God to help you return to reading his Word.

#7. Record your QUESTIONS.
The Bible can be confusing. This isn’t just a good thing, it’s a great thing! Every time you are confused, you are positioned to learn something. Don’t let your questions distract you, and neither do you want to loose them. Write them down and make it a point to find the answers later. Ask a friend, your pastor, or maybe even google it–although remember that just because it’s on the web, that doesn’t mean it’s good or true!

I love questions, and I love hearing them from others. Feel free to submit your questions to this site, and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.